The Importance of Big Data Analytics in the Hotel Industry today!

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THE IMPORTANCE OF BIG DATA IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY TODAY

Over the last two years, we have been living through a Global Pandemic and in the hotel industry, we may have all felt at times that we were going backwards as opposed to forwards in our business with the continuous opening and closing of hotels due to Government restrictions.  However, there is one sector that we cannot deny that has been advancing and accelerating and that is technology, and this is influencing and playing a key role in how we do business today!

We are living in the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) where technology is advancing at such a fast pace and we are experiencing advances in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), robotics, the Internet of things (IoT), genetic engineering and many more. So, in today’s world, organisations need to have the right tools to collect and analyse this big data to keep on improving business, get on top of rates among the competitors of the same industry, and with the hotel industry having such a high level of competition, the hotel industry is not an exception.

What is Big Data?

This term is used to describe the large volume of structured and unstructured data that a business collects daily. This big data enables businesses such as hotels to analyse and gain insights that lead to better decisions, gain market intelligence, beat competitors, learn about their customers in dept, and grow the business strategically.

All of you are familiar with big data sets such as social media sites, customer databases, and smart devices and these data sets are large and complex that traditional data processing software can’t analyse efficiently.

Big Data is recognised by 3 characteristics 

• High Volume – Large amounts of data
• High Velocity - Data is generated rapidly
• High Variety – Varied data types

There are two main categories for Big Data

•  Structured Data – this is highly specific data that is easily searchable and is stored in a predefined format e.g. credit card numbers, databases in predefined fields 
• Unstructured Data – this has no predefined data and is not as easily searchable e.g.  video, social media posts, images.

How is Big Data Analytics important to the Hotel Industry?

In today’s world, big data analytics is a key concept for hotels to assist them in remaining competitive and maximising revenues as it assists hotel owners and other business leaders such as sales & marketing managers and revenue managers to identify important patterns and trends, optimise marketing efforts and enhance the customer journey and experience with the hotel. 

Benefits of Big Data Analytics to the Hotel Industry are: 

• Revenue Management – Yield management, business intelligence, and forecasting
• Targeted Marketing - Revolutionising market segmentation, enabling marketers to micro-target their consumers
• Evaluation of trends in the customer experience and preferences and assisting in improving customer service
• Mobile data - With the increase in the use of mobile  devices it enables hotels to develop user-friendly apps and offer personalised services to their guests
• Harness Social Media – engage and connect with audiences on an international and national level on multiple platforms
• Analyse Competitors - offers market intelligence on our competitors - gives you a clear indication of what they are doing in the market.

Revenue management is one of the keys to the success of a hotel's performance and how it benchmarks its rates against competitors so lets explore an example of a big data analytics platform that can assist with revenue management and help you predict the future!

OTA Insight -Hotel Revenue Management Solutions

There are many platforms available that will assist hotels in visualising and leveraging their data in the simplest way.  A prime example of a leading data intelligence platform used throughout the hotel industry today is OTA Insight.  OTA Insight is a cloud-based platform and provides real-time data to hoteliers and revenue managers offering a suite of revenue management solutions empowering hoteliers to make smarter revenue and distribution decisions.

OTA Insight integrates with other industry tools including hotel property management systems, leading RMS solutions, and data benchmarking providers.  OTA Insight offers a suite of revenue management solutions empowering hoteliers to make smarter revenue and distribution decisions.

The Suite of Solutions offered by OTA insights are:

• Market Insight – Offers Market Intelligence, harnessing real-time market data
• Rate Insight – Offers Rate Shopping Intelligence, making smarter pricing decisions
• Parity Insight – Offers Rate Parity Intelligence, keeping control of your distribution
• Revenue Insight – Offers Hotel business Intelligence, unlocking your revenue potential

Marketing Insight Solution - Predicating the Future!

OTA Insight just recently launched the Market Insight Solution which demonstrates how industries such as the hotel industry are responding to the era of big data.  Market Insight provides real-time data and is an advanced AI-powered technology platform that taps into billions of forward-looking data points gathering data from multiple data sources such as hotel web searches, events, holidays, and online reviews.  Market Insight allows revenue and hotel managers to anticipate future market demands, evaluate their competitiveness again their dynamic comp set, and maximise on any early revenue opportunities, and this can be done all in a matter of a few minutes!

So, as we move on from the dramatic effect that Covid-19 has had on the hotel industry we must look ahead and plan and prepare for the rebound and embrace big data for us to compete in this changing and highly competitive environment and help our business survive in the future!

Find out more about  Big Data in the Hotel Industry

For more information on, the importance of Big Data in the Hospitality Industry read more Premium Digital blogs.

Premium Digital Working for Success in Hospitality, contact us today.

Written by Ailbhe Stephens

Ltd, O., 2022. Global Leader in Hotel Data Intelligence | OTA Insight. [online] Otainsight.com. Available at: <https://www.otainsight.com/company/about/> [Accessed 30 January 2022].

Managed Outsource Solutions. 2022. 8 Ways Big Data Analytics May Impact the Hotel Industry. [online] Available at: <https://www.managedoutsource.com/blog/eight-ways-which-big-data-analytics-may-impact-hotel-industry/> [Accessed 30 January 2022].